String Theory For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 18

Taking a Closer Look at the String Theory Controversy

IN THIS CHAPTER

Considering what string theory does and doesn’t explain

Realizing that string theory may never explain our universe

Should string theorists control physics departments and research funding?

Although many physicists believe that string theory holds promise as the most likely theory of quantum gravity, there’s a growing skepticism among some that string theory hasn’t achieved the goals it set out for. The major thrust of the criticism is that whatever useful benefits there are to studying string theory, it’s not actually a fundamental theory of reality, but only a useful approximation at best.

String theorists acknowledge some of these criticisms as valid and dismiss others as premature or even completely contrived. Whether or not the critics are right, they’ve been a part of string theory since the very first days and are likely to be around as long as the theory persists. Over recent years, the criticism has risen to such furor that it’s being called “the string wars” across many science blogs and magazines.

In this chapter, we discuss some of the major criticisms of string theory. We begin with a ...